Mark Williams spoke out after losing to Zhao Xintong in the World Snooker Championship final on Monday night and compared the Chinese player to darts superstar Luke Littler. The Welshman was unable to compete with Zhao’s confident display in the showpiece match as he lost the encounter 18-12.
Zhao overcame Ronnie O’Sullivan in the semi-finals and stormed clear in the final as he started the last session with a 17-8 advantage, just one frame from victory. Williams rallied as he won four frames on the bounce to give himself a fighting chance. But his opponent won the 30th frame of the match after the mid-session interval to become the first player from Asia to lift the World Championship trophy.
Despite the result, Williams appeared to be in good spirits after the contest. And commenting on Zhao, the 50-year-old explained: “Zhao winning it could be huge for the sport. It could end up opening floodgates everywhere.
“I’ve got nothing but admiration for him, to do what he’s done. He’s been out for two years, bashed everyone up in qualifying and come here and bashed everyone up in the main tournament. It’s an unbelievable achievement.
“There’s not enough good words to say about him. Everyone has got to get behind him and just watch him.
“He could dominate or at least give [Judd] Trump and Kyren [Wilson] a go. Snooker needed someone like him to come through, like what happened with Luke Littler in darts. His style is so effortless and his cue power.”
Zhao appeared at the Crucible as an amateur and was forced to qualify for the event after returning from a 20-month snooker ban last September.
The 28-year-old was suspended after being charged with betting on matches and being party to another player fixing two matches. And Zhao alluded to his absence from the sport as he addressed his victory.
“Unbelievable, it’s still unbelievable,” he explained. “I was nervous, there was big pressure – I know I can’t miss. If I miss, he will come back. It took a lot of concentration and I had to be careful.
“That moment at the end was perfect. When I shook hands with Mark, I was nearly crying.
“It’s very good for China, I’m very happy to do this for them. I don’t how I play so well here. It’s the Crucible but now I’m the champion.
“I believed I could come back from my ban and do well soon, but I can’t believe I’m the world champion in such a short time. I’m so proud of myself. I’m back now. I’m so happy to be back and I will keep going.”
